The BISD Board was presented with two ranked lists of competitive sealed proposals for approval for construction of Charter Oaks Elementary (new Elementary #11) and the Wall Street Auditorium renovations which was packaged with the Lakewood Elementary Music Classroom and Gymnasium Addition Project. Competitive Sealed Proposals (CSPs) are part of a procurement method where a government agency request proposals and pricing from contractors based on the scope of the work needed. Prospective contractors then submit proposals which are then ranked by a ranking committee and then after approval, the agency then enters into negotiations with the highest ranked contractor. If for whatever reason an agreement isn’t reached with a contractor the agency then enters into negotiations the next highest ranked contractor.

Overall, BISD received seven proposals each for both the Charter Oaks Construction project and the Wall Street Auditorium and Lakewood Elementary Projects. These proposals were then ranked by the highest score by seven Selection Committee members with pricing accounting 45 percent of the score, experience reputation accounting for 25 percent, quality reputation and capability of key personnel both for 10 percent each, and financial capability and safety record both accounting for 5 percent each. After scoring, Mazanec Construction was ranked #1 with a score of 663.6 out of 700, and a base bid of $3,859,300.00 and total bid (including alternate bid items)of $4,105,684.00 for both projects. Cloud Construction, who was ranked # 1 for construction of Charter Oaks Elementary (new Elementary #11) using the process, was ranked #2 with 652.9 points, and a base bid of $4,060,927 and a total bid of $4,255,062.

Last, the Board of Trustees were shown bid tabulations showing individual prices for both the Bond Program Budget, or the amount they could spend for each project, and the Current Budget for each project. These tables showed that while Board was saving $1,794,309 by only spending $19,486,477 of the allotted $21,280,786 for the Charter Oaks Project, they were overspending on both Lakewood and Wall Street projects for a combined $1,969,901, putting the total cost at $24,264,526, which was $175,266 over the Bond Program Budget of $24,088,934.00. Dr. Robert Muller, who was presenting the information, explained that this was partially due to $525,000 BISD had to pay for Owner’s Contingency Amount, which is put aside to cover unforeseen expenses, and any remaining amount left over after construction would be paid back to BISD.

After being assured that this overspending wouldn’t affect the construction of Lake Belton High School, the board members started going through the alternate bid items to decide what to remove. Board member Leo Camden Jr. asked about the importance of replacing the 15-year-old Air-Cooled Chiller unit for $102,000, and after being reassured that it wasn’t a priority and could be subcontracted for a cheaper price, the board agreed to remove it from the list of alternate bids. This put the board at $73,266 over the limit, and after being reassured again that this wouldn’t affect the Lake Belton High School construction, the board approved the Ranking Selections, and for the Superintendent to enter negotiations with Cloud Construction for the Charter Oaks Construction Project and Mazanec Construction for both the Wall Street Auditorium and Lakewood Elementary Projects. Construction is scheduled to start as soon as negotiations are finished, with the construction of Charter Oaks expected to be completed by April 26, 2019, the Wall Street Auditorium Update is expected by May 21, 2018, and the Lakewood Elementary Music Classroom and Gymnasium Addition expected by August 13, 2018.